Gabon

Destinations worldwide welcomed 598 million international tourists in the initial six months of 2017, some 36 million additional than in the same period of 2016. At 6%, increase was well above the trend of recent years, making the current January-June period the strongest half-year since 2010.

Visitor numbers reported by destinations around the world reflect strong request for international travel in the initial half of 2017, according to the new UNWTO World Tourism Barometer. Worldwide, international tourist arrivals (overnight visitors) increased by 6% compared to the same six-month period last year, well above the sustained and consistent trend of 4% or higher increase since 2010. This represents the strongest half-year in seven years.

This year, under the leadership of H.E. President Alassane Ouattara and the theme of “Accelerating Africa’s Path to Prosperity: Growing Inclusive Economies and Jobs through Agriculture”, the African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) 2017 is shaping up as a premier platform to showcase ongoing evolution in Africa’s agricultural transformation schedule and to scale up the political, policy, and financial commitments needed to achieve the Malabo Declaration and the world development schedule around the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Following the launch of the landmark annual Africa Agriculture Status Statement (ASSR) at the AGRF taking place in Cote d’Ivoire from 4-8 September 2017, the major conclusion centres around the power of entrepreneurs and the free market in driving Africa’s economic increase from food production. This is owing to the fact that a lot of businesses are waking up to opportunities of a rapidly growing food market in Africa that may be worth additional than $1 trillion each year by 2030 to substitute imports with high price food made in Africa.

Market Research Company Euromonitor International revealed before this week the key trends shaping travel and tourism in Africa at the 41st Annual World Tourism Conference in Kigali, Rwanda.

According to Euromonitor International’s new data, international arrivals to Africa grew by 6.5 % in 2017, to reach 18,550 million, up from 16,351 million in 2012. Key markets such as South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Mozambique, Cameroon, Mauritius and Tanzania accounted for 70 % of international trips to the Sub-Saharan African region.

In 2002 South Africa's Parliament unveiled a digital reproduction of a map - of China, the Middle East and Africa - that some speculated could be the initial map of the African continent. The Da Ming Hun Yi Tu - the Comprehensive Map of the Great Ming Empire - was drawn up around 1389 during the Ming Dynasty, according to historian Hyunhee Park.

There has been a 20-fold increase in the number of global climate change laws since 1997, according to the most comprehensive database of relevant policy and legislation.

The database, produced by the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and the Sabin Center on Climate Change Law, includes more than 1,200 relevant policies across 164 countries, which account for 95% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

An ambitious project pipeline aimed at galvanising increase across several sectors of Gabon’s economy helped the country weather sustained low oil prices in 2016, while wide-ranging reforms are expected to support further diversification efforts in the new year.

Though increase is expected to have dipped slightly in 2016, Gabon kept up its planned pace of development, investing in a raft of initiatives that are steering the country away from its reliance on oil.

A drive to reinforce diversification efforts limited the impact of low oil prices on Gabon’s economy in 2015, and while the government has had to adjust spending downwards, increase has still ticked along well above the developed-country average.

According to the majority recent estimate from the IMF, the country is expected to post increase of 3.5% in 2015, down from 5.1% in 2014. GDP is set to reach CFA8.22trn (€12.5bn), with exports on course to rise by 6.78% year-on-year.

While diversification is a key objective for Gabon under the Gabon Emergent strategy, 2014 saw the country moving to increase commodity production, which in turn has helped sustain robust headline increase even amidst a challenging fiscal environment.

The signing of seven new licences in 2014 marked a critical step for Gabon’s hydrocarbons sector, which represents over 50% of total government revenue. Prospects for the mining industry – a key source of exports – as well improved, following the launch of a number of new downstream projects.

Next months of negotiations, Gabon signed seven exploration and production-sharing contracts in August, which it hopes will spur new exploration in deep-water offshore blocks and generate up to $1.1bn in new investment , according to estimates from Gabon’s oil ministry.

Francophone west Africa’s regional stock exchange, the BRVM, suffers from low turnover and a lack of listings. But its chief executive tells Paul Wallace he is determined to change that and bring about closer ties with Nigeria and Ghana’s stock markets.

Dr. Akinwumi Adesina is focusing on five areas to achieve the African and world goals for a prosperous continent since becoming president of the African Development Bank - Africa's major public financial institution in September 2015. He was a keynote speaker at this month's Corporate Council on Africa's U.S.- Africa Business Summit in Washington D.C. and moderated a lively panel with five African government ministers. He as well received the Gene White Lifetime Succcess Award from the World Child Nutrition Foundation. This week, he was named the 2017 recipient of the World Food Prize, a prestigious honor that includes a $250,000 award. In an interview in Washington, DC, Adesina discussed the Development Bank's ambitious schedule and his vision for attracting the increase capital Africa needs. Posting questions for AllAfrica was Noluthando Crockett-Ntonga.

The friendly and cooperative relations between the People's Republic of China and the Gabonese Republic developed steadily in 2013.

Political exchanges maintained good momentum. In March, President of Gabon Ali Bongo Ondimba and President of the Gabonese National Assembly Guy Nzouba Ndama sent congratulatory messages to President Xi Jinping and NPC Chairman Zhang Dejiang respectively on their elections.

The country (Gabon) is situated in Western Africa is bordering the Atlantic Ocean at the Equator, between Republic of the Congo and It has borders with Congo (Brazzaville) for 1903km, Cameroon for 298km and Land in Gabon is narrow coastal plain and hilly interior with savanna in the east and the south. Gabonese land covers an area of 267667 km².

Gabon's agriculture minister explains how the government is developing its cash crop sector through international investment.

Gabon aims to increase the contribution of agriculture to its economy to 15 %, from current levels of 1 % by 2020, as part of its strategy to become an emerging country by 2025, according to the country's agriculture minister.

The Gabonese Chief of National broke with convention to hammer home these truths at this crucial time when Mother Nature and next generations are being exposed to unforeseeable damage. "An ecological and human disaster is on the horizon, threatening centuries of scientific and technological innovation, during which nations and people have prospered", said Ali Bongo Ondimba.

Libreville is the capital and major city of Gabon, in west central Africa. The city is a port on the Komo River, near the Gulf of Guinea, and a trade center for a timber region. As of 2005, it has a people of 578,156.

Jean-François Ntoutoume Emane came to the mayor’s office in 2008 after a long, successful run in the national government as Prime Minister, presidential advisor, Minister for Commerce, inclunding Minister for Civil Aviation.

He shares with us his plans and vision for Libreville, Gabon’s most significant city politically, commercially, and culturally.

First of amount, how is Libreville’s fate interconnected with that of the country? And, what projects are underway here that will help boost the national economy?

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